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what is the point of macbook?

zombierunner

zombierunner

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 18, 2011
1,856
2,769
UK
i mean 13inch mbp is only a little more expensive than a macbook + better in many regards than the macbook ? also with air becoming more "mainstream" .. can't see macbook hanging around for too long

thoughts?
 
I'm betting it will get a refresh and a price drop of $100. Even though the air is becoming more mainstream, it's still a lot more expensive for a comparable model. 64GB is too little storage in the $999 model for a primary computer for most people.
 
I have a 2 year old Macbook that is my main travel computer. Purchased it as a refurb and it has run without problems for more than two years now.

The refurb price was low enough that I elected not to get the extra two years of Applecare, saving significant money.

When this one goes, I will purchase another, as a refurb.
 
I'll admit the name has issues but I have been wondering the same thing as the OP? That user group is slimming down more and more with each new MBA release and as Apple holds the consumer hand slowly pulling people along the path of their business plan. The next MBA refresh will be interesting.
 
alust2013 said:
I'm betting it will get a refresh and a price drop of $100. Even though the air is becoming more mainstream, it's still a lot more expensive for a comparable model. 64GB is too little storage in the $999 model for a primary computer for most people.
Click to expand...

lol i remember when my PowerMac G4 had a 40 GB hard drive, and that was huge. :)

I do hope that Apple choses to keep the MacBook, and maybe even drop the price. If the price drops people won't have to think Macs are so expensive.
 
at this point the macbook is pointless. they should just kill it and make the airs the new macbooks
 
I don't see the point of it when I can get a mbp for the same price.
A coworker bought a MacBook for $950 when she could have bought the mbp for $999 2 minutes away at microcenter.
Why because the mbp was more than she needed. Oh well
 
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They could target it to students or people who own iPods ... Make it 799 as Steven said .. Get the kids taste the macberries and then when they get jobs they will buy the pies ... ;)
 
My mom is a simple person with simple needs and expectations from a computer. She'll watch the occasional youtube video or her soaps should she miss them on daytime television. She visits the weather sites and news sites and her email, and does all this from a 2006 eMac. She loves her eMac (It was mine but i gave it to her because she has this crappy compaq computer) she always mentions how its a 5 year old machine and it looks like brand new and how pretty and white it is and how it was only 80 dollars on ebay. When she saw the 2008 white macbook at bestbuy she fell in love its sleek shiny white case and just the overall beauty of the machine not to mention it can easily outperform the eMac. My mom is an example of the novice computer users that don't require much but simplicity and ease of use. I myself will perhaps look into purchasing the macbook after the refresh since i need a new machine for school and will be getting it through a grant. Also, the macbook is just a mac mini in laptop form therefore I'd rather have the macbook and a separate monitor to hook it up to when Im at my desk then have the ability to sit on my bed and do school work rather than being stuck at my desk all day.
 
l love my unibody macbook and always will(rev 6,1). I know it's just a color but the white really does look so sweet. I got mine back when it was on sale at microcenter for $799 I believe. I added a new HD and RAM and made it mine. I love it, and don't think I'll need a new Mac for years. I think it will always be part of the lineup.
 
a 2.0+ghz i3 and 4gb ram baseline with some sort of nvidia gpu for $899 would be nice. perhaps with a backlit too, while still even keeping the plastic body.

i think it would be cool to have something like getting rid of the current macbook, renaming the 13'' macbook pro to simply a macbook, and having the 15'' and 17'' with the name "macbook pro," as they are more powerful computers. all of which have a backlit keyboard and aluminum unibody.

so either a solid value plastic mb (i3/4gb/nvidia/320gb 5400rpm at $899, roughly) or get rid of it altogether and make the 13'' mbp the "macbook."

just some ideas.
 
Wi-Fi reception good on plastic laptops, bad on metal laptops

zombierunner said:
i mean 13inch mbp is only a little more expensive than a macbook + better in many regards than the macbook ? also with air becoming more "mainstream" .. can't see macbook hanging around for too long

thoughts?
Click to expand...

Apple's plastic laptops (iBook and MacBook) have always had better Wi-Fi reception than their metal laptops (PowerBook G4, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air). In fact, Apple's metal laptops have the worst Wi-Fi reception in comparison to all other laptops by all other manufacturers.

Apple's plastic laptops, on the other hand, have excellent Wi-Fi reception. They detect more Wi-Fi networks and have a stronger signal (more bars) when on the same network while being side-by-side with any of Apple's metal laptops. Aluminum blocks Wi-Fi signals.
 
Archlord said:
a 2.0+ghz i3 and 4gb ram baseline with some sort of nvidia gpu for $899 would be nice. perhaps with a backlit too, while still even keeping the plastic body.

i think it would be cool to have something like getting rid of the current macbook, renaming the 13'' macbook pro to simply a macbook, and having the 15'' and 17'' with the name "macbook pro," as they are more powerful computers. all of which have a backlit keyboard and aluminum unibody.

so either a solid value plastic mb (i3/4gb/nvidia/320gb 5400rpm at $899, roughly) or get rid of it altogether and make the 13'' mbp the "macbook."

just some ideas.
Click to expand...
the macbook doesn't need a backlit, the keys are white and easily visible even in dark rooms (thanks to the light from the monitor of course).
i really really REALLY hope they don't drop the macbook (and i obviously hope they don't keep that model any longer, it's been more than 1,5 year since its last update and it was normally updated once every 6 months!)
 
StvenH90 said:
I always thought the Mac Book should drop down to $799 and the base Mac Mini down to $599.

~Steven
Click to expand...

If the Mini was close to it's original $499 price and the Macbook was $200 cheaper, I'm sure they'd be flying off shelves.

What needs to happen is that the Book needs to have more standout features than the Air. Give the Book better graphics capabilities, a light up keyboard, a better processor, or just about anything that gives it an edge.
 
Ijustfarted said:
at this point the macbook is pointless. they should just kill it and make the airs the new macbooks
Click to expand...

As a marketing decision, apple will keep the standard MacBook on the market, I can almost guarantee it. The reason being is that they want to have an "entry-level" computer that consumers will be willing to purchase in order to try out a mac. I for one bought a macbook for my first mac laptop. No way in hell did I want to spend more than a grand on something I didn't know I would love or not.

and I believe for that reason, they will keep them on the line.
 
As said many people like the white case of the Macbook.
I personally think they should bring back the MacBook in black (I love mine) but it should not be any more expensive then a white model.

I also know over here a lot of schools buy the base MacBook.
 
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